Widening the literary landscape: Where are all the working class stories?

Books shape our understanding of the world. When we read, we don’t just pass time — we connect with other lives, other places, and other perspectives. That’s why publishing stories by authors from all walks of life is so essential. Without putting diversity on the page, we risk pushing only a narrow version of reality.

This reflects a troubling trend: inequality is deepening, and opportunity remains tightly bound to class

Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. The UK publishing industry is failing to reflect the full spectrum of society. Despite ongoing conversations about inclusion, publishing remains the least socially diverse of all the UK’s creative industries. Chris McCrudden, a communications planner who analyses industry trends, puts it bluntly: “Publishing is an upper-middle class industry whose output caters to upper-middle class tastes.”

In 2014, just 12% of publishing professionals came from working-class backgrounds. By 2019, the percentage of those in publishing from middle-class backgrounds had increased to 60%. This reflects a troubling trend: inequality is deepening, and opportunity remains tightly bound to class. When most gatekeepers – agents, editors, and publishers – come from similar backgrounds, the stories that make it through tend to mirror their worldview.

Writers from lower socio-economic backgrounds shouldn’t have to stick to tropes to survive in a publishing industry where classism is rife

Such a narrow lens has real consequences. Working-class writers are increasingly sidelined, their voices muffled in favour of safer, more familiar stories. Plus, if they do break through, their narratives are often still restricted to reflect working-class stereotypes: gritty tales of addiction, poverty, or victimhood. As writer Natasha Carthew, who grew up in a single-parent family in a council house in rural Cornwall, puts it: “Protagonists don’t have to be addicts or alcoholics or victims in some way – they could just be working class and what that means to us all in its compassionate, impulsive, big-hearted ways.” Writers from lower socio-economic backgrounds shouldn’t have to stick to tropes to survive in a publishing industry where classism is rife.

Just getting a look into the literary landscape itself is hard enough if you’re not well-connected and trust-funded. If you’re an aspiring working-class author, there are systemic financial barriers. The cost of entering writing competitions, often £10 per submission, adds up quickly. For writers already navigating low wages or insecure employment, this creates yet another hurdle, where the rewards rarely compensate. In 2022, full-time writers earned a median income of just £7,000 a year – well below the UK’s minimum acceptable standard of living. That’s a 33% drop from 2018, when the figure was £10,497. Publishing is not only difficult to enter for those from working-class backgrounds – it’s nearly impossible to sustain a career within.

It’s not just a project; it’s a resistance against the narrowing of the literary landscape

This is where The Bee, a new initiative from charity New Writing North, helps. Launched with the support of actor Michael Sheen, The Bee is a bold attempt to challenge the class crisis in UK literature. It includes a literary magazine, podcast, outreach work, and The Beehive – an online community launching in summer for working-class writers to connect, develop, and be heard. It’s not just a project; it’s a resistance against the narrowing of the literary landscape.

Editor of The Bee, Richard Benson, acknowledges the fact that publishing “is not in a good place” and argues the case for more diverse voices is both urgent and obvious. “Much of the important writing being done today and so many of the best-loved stories come from ordinary working people,” he says. “So often it’s stories from the working classes that express what is really happening in the world.”

In an attempt to reflect more of “what is really happening”, The Bee is creating “an alternative canon of classics” through their podcasts. Guest writers and academics will discuss and decide which books deserve a place in the new canon, with a recently released episode featuring writer Craig McLean exploring Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. This strand of the initiative draws attention to the need to reshape what we see as prestigious literature.

Opportunities must exist for writers from all regions. Without a truly nationwide shift, the industry’s class problem will remain firmly intact

Moving to celebrate talent regardless of socio-economic strata encapsulates Chief Executive of New Writing North, Claire Malcolm’s statement that “talent is classless. Opportunity, however, is class-bound. The Bee is an urgent response to that.”

As The Bee is backed by a Newcastle-based Charity, it also helps disperse opportunity that is usually concentrated in London. Backer of the scheme, publishing house Faber’s CEO, recently admitted that publishing’s London-centric nature “had to stop.” Opportunities must exist for writers from all regions. Without a truly nationwide shift, the industry’s class problem will remain firmly intact.

More initiatives like The Bee are needed to tackle the classism within the UK’s literary industry, elevating working-class stories and writers, while helping them network and build connections. As Kit de Waal, a celebrated British author who grew up in a working-class family in Birmingham, puts it: “shove all those other books up a bit and make room on the shelf for stories from all of the communities that make up the working class. We do literature and ourselves a disservice if we don’t.”